Apprenticeship
by GalePelt
Summary: Green, Red, Blue, Vio, and Shadow are given apprentices to train. Not far after, they are taken away and their apprentices have to step up and save Hyrule from the new evil that is to befall their land.
1. A Vision

**_Every story needs to end somewhere. That's why in the Four Swords + manga, the Links turned back into one. But think of this as in...they just did that so they could move on to a different story. The five Links will remain five in this fanfic. And please review so I know if my writing is suckish or not._**

* * *

"Something bad is about to happen..."

"What do you mean?"

Princess Zelda and Green were having a discussion in the throne room.

"Green, I've been having visions."

"About what?" Green was worried, the last time Zelda started having strange senses, he and the other Links needed to defeat some evil. Was it back?

"My visions were about you and the other Links."

"What?! What happened to us in your vision?"

"This monster took you guys away, and it said, "It's their turn now."

"Zelda, I'm not easily taken away you know. Blue, Red, Vio, Shadow and I have been through a lot!"

"Okay, it was only one vision. Just be careful."

"I will..."

Suddenly, yelling was heard down the hall.

"Green! Hurry up! Dad wants us to come down already!" It was Blue.

"Okay! I'm coming!" Green rushed out of the room, leaving Zelda behind.

"Be careful..."

--

"Hey Green! What took you so long?" Blue asked.

"I was talking to Zelda, she said something bad might happen to us."

"Huh? Like what?"

Green told Blue about Zelda's vision.

"Then she said we should be careful."

"I won't let any stupid monsters take me down!"

"Yeah, but still..."

"We have to get going already, Vio and Red are waiting with Dad at the bottom level of the castle."

"Let's go then! Race ya!"

Green and Blue ran all the way down to the bottom level of the castle and skidded to a halt when they saw their dad.

"You guys are late," Vio commented.

"Who asked you?"Blue angrily asked.

"Don't fight guys!" Red whined.

"Isn't there something you want to tell us, Dad?" Green asked.

"Yes, now everyone shut up."

All four Links stopped arguing at once to listen to the general.

"There's been strange kidnappings going on in Hyrule. Many kids have gone missing."

Green began to think what Zelda said might be true, but what about that part when the monster said, "It's their turn now?"

"As you know, that means more people will need to leave the castle to find those missing kids. So some kids have been chosen to be apprenticed early so they can begin training for combat. And as you know, you guys are already 15..."

"Well, say what you want us to do already!" Blue interrupted.

"You guys are getting apprentices."

All was silent.

"Is that a good thing, or a bad thing?" Red asked.

"BAD! It means we need to watch over some little runts all day!" Blue said angrily.

"Oh c'mon guys, it can't be that bad," Green said confidently.

"As I was saying...these kids shouldn't be completely retarded or anything. They're all 12 years old and they can handle some new training. They should be coming here in the next few hours," Link's dad explained.

"Hey Dad, is Shadow getting an apprentice too? People don't seem to trust him much yet," Vio wondered.

"...Well yeah, he is part of you too."

"Hey, where are these kids coming from? We would've heard about it by now if they came from Hyrule Castle Town," Red asked.

"They're coming from towns outside of this one. I'm not sure about which ones though. If you're lucky, you might see them before they even arrive here at the castle," Link's dad told them.

"Okay, weуll be back later then," Green announced.

"Wait, if Shadow is getting an apprentice, why wasn't he called here?" Vio asked suspicious.

"The guards are afraid he'll steal something if comes down here," Link's dad explained. "But it's not like no one ever stole anything from here."

"What? Who stole from here?" Red asked curiously.

"Uh...stole form here? When did I say that?"

"Just 5 seconds ago."

"Um... why don't you guys get out of here? Don't forget to tell Shadow about the apprentices."

"C'mon guys, let's get out of here," Blue insisted.

"We might want to find out who those kids are, I'm interested in analyzing them before I actually am told to train one of them," Vio suggested.

"That sounds fun!" Red cheered.

"So we look for those kids now?" Blue asked a little annoyed.

"Okay, I agree with Vio. It's not like we had anything better to do," Green agreed.

When the Links left, the general smirked to himself and said, "Phew... that was a close one."


	2. On the Road

A young boy with messy light brown hair waited at the edge of Caisis Village. He wore a layered shirt, jeans, and a striped hat. And he was bored out of his mind. His name was Matt.

Matt was supposed to be picked up by some wagon, taking him to Hyrule for an apprenticeship. The only reason his village picked him to go was because they didn't want him around because he once committed arson.

He was waiting at the edge of town with his stuff, then an elderly man with a horse and wagon came up to him and asked, "Are you the boy they call Matt?"

"Um…yes."

"This here wagon is goin' to Hyrule Castle Town, the general said to pick you up for an apprenticeship?"

"Yeah, can we go now?"

"Well, they sent me here 'cause the real messengers are sending warning to people. Now I'm stuck here—

"Let's get out of here already!"

"Okay! God…ya little runt…"

Matt hopped onto the wagon and sat on a bundle of hay in the back. After waiting like 5 minutes, he asked, "So…how far is Hyrule Castle Town?"

"Actually…a long while. Even longer considerin' we still need to pick up 4 others," the old man replied.

"Oh great…"

"Excuse me, I didn't get to introduce myself before. My name is Bino."

"Yeah, whatever old man."

"'Oy! Be more optimistic, sport. We're only about an hour away from Serenity Village, the next stop."

"Are you kidding me?! That's SOOO far away!"

"It ain't that far for the old people, we can wait…"

"Man, this guy must've been smoking crack or something…" Matt muttered to himself.

--

Finally, after they arrived at Serenity Village, there was a boy standing near the gate. He was wearing a grey shirt and cargo shorts. The boy had wavy brown hair and amber eyes. This boy's name was David.

"Hey, are ye David?" Bino asked.

"Yeah," the boy answered.

"Well hop on, we're supposed to arrive at Hyrule Castle Town in the next few hours!"

"Okay, whatever ya say."

David climbed into the wagon and sat on the bundle of hay next to Matt.

"Hey kid, so why are you here? My name's David."

"Hi, I'm Matt and I'm supposed to be going to this apprenticeship in Hyrule Castle Town."

"Me too, how were you picked? I was picked 'cause I'm the best fencer in my village."

"My village didn't want me around, so they're sending me there."

"Oh."

"Hey Bino! How much longer now?"

"About 30 minutes."

After 2 minutes, David asked, "How much longer?"

"28 minutes."

"God, this is taking forever!" Matt whined.

"Don't you kids do anything but complain? You should be more patient," Bino suggested.

"Whatever."

"Well, when I was a lad…" Bino started.

"Just don't listen to him and you might actually have fun," Matt told David.

"Well what do we do now?"

"I have no freakin' idea."

--

The next stop was called May Town. There was a happy looking boy with blonde hair and blue eyes waiting at the front entrance. He wore black pants, a white long sleeved shirt, and a blue vest. His name was Alex.

"Are you Alex?"

"Yes, are you here to pick me up for Hyrule Castle Town?"

"Yep, get on. We're kinda in a hurry."

"Right…"

Alex sat across from Dave and Matt in the wagon.

"Hey guys! Are you excited for apprenticeship?" Alex eagerly asked.

"Yeah…kinda…not really," the two said.

"Well I'm happy because I was picked randomly, so they sent me here! Ain't that swell?"

"Yeah…kinda…not really."

"Say, when do we get there?"

"We get to the next stop in 'bout 45 minutes," Bino announced.

"Oh, that's not so long!"

"Finally! Someone who understands!" Bino cheered. "You guys should be optimistic like him!"

"What a kiss up!" Matt whispered to David.

"Hey guys! What should we talk about?" Alex asked happily.

"Dammit! Why do you have to be so perky?" Matt asked annoyed.

"Um…it's my nature?"

"Oh…I guess that makes sense."

"Does anyone want to sing songs?"

"NO WAY! We are not going to sing any gay songs while on this wagon!" David responded defiantly.

"Okay…"

--

So the three boys sat there, not singing any gay songs, riding to the next stop, Tassels City. Another boy was waiting at the end of the road. He had fluffy light brown hair and amber eyes. He was wearing dark blue pants, a light grey sweater, and a red cap. His name was Ryan.

"Are you Ryan?" Bino asked.

"Who else would be standing at the edge of town?"

"Get on the wagon, boy!"

"Okay! Geez…"

Ryan sat on the bundle of hay next to Alex.

"Hello! What's your name?" Alex asked.

"Ryan."

"Why are you here?"

"Why else? The apprenticeship."

"Oh that thing."

"Yeah…"

"Hey Ryan, would you happen to have any ideas of what to do here?" David asked.

"Um…no. I would've thought you guys had something to do."

"Nope, nothing. And now we're extremely bored."

"Well it can't be that far away from the next town, can it?"

"It's not that far away. Just like 5 minutes," Bino said.

"Really?" Matt asked eagerly.

"…NO! Of course not, it's about a half hour! Haha!" Bino laughed at his own corny joke. Alex was laughing too.

"Why are you laughing?" Matt asked irritably.

"Now that I think of it… I have no idea," Alex replied.

"This is gonna be a long trip, isn't it?" Ryan asked, knowing the answer.

"Yeah, you might as well just sit there and wait for something cool to happen. That's what we're been doing for a while…" David said.

--

Warren was the name of the next town. A girl with shoulder-length messy black hair stood at the town's gate. The girl had dark eyes, like pools of ink. She wore a long black shirt, jeans, and a silver belt slanting down to her right hip. She also wore a white, unzipped, short-sleeved hoodie. Her name was Jess.

"Are you the last apprentice I need to pick up?" Bino asked.

"That's me."

"Okay, get in. Hyrule Castle Town is about 5 minutes away by wagon."

"REALLY?" the four boys asked eagerly.

"…Yes."

"Alright!" Matt cheered.

"Damn…I ran out of things to torture them with…"

Jess climbed into the wagon and sat in the back. All four boys were staring at her. She just stared back, wondering what the hell they were staring at.

"I didn't think a girl would be coming along…" David whispered to Matt.

"She must be good if she got picked."

"Hello! How did you get picked?" Alex asked perkily.

"I really have no idea," Jess replied flatly.

"That was unexpected," Ryan said kind of surprised.

"Well, at least we don't have to worry about what to do anymore. We're near Hyrule Castle Town," David said relieved.

"Do you guys know who we're even being trained by?" Ryan asked curious.

"Now that I think of it…no," Matt realized.

"I wonder who's training us…" Alex wondered.


	3. Arriving at Hyrule Castle Town

"I don't think those kids are around yet…" Green commented.

"We should be heading back, they should be here in like 10 minutes," Blue decided.

"Are you guys excited about getting apprentices?" Red asked.

"At least I know your dad trusts me enough to give me an apprentice," Shadow replied.

"Hey, he's technically your dad too," Vio reminded him.

"Well are you guys excited?" Red asked again.

"I guess it's okay…"

"I wonder what those kids are like…"

"I hope they're not very annoying...," Blue grumbled.

--

"So you go that way, then this way, then that other way—

"Shut up Bino! The castle is right there! The big castle at the far side of town!" David pointed to the large castle in the distance.

"Well thank goodness! I don't wanna put up with you obnoxious little brats anymore anyway."

"That is slightly insulting!"

"See ya. To hell with ya'll."

"Oh yeah, Bino?" Matt began to ask.

"What now?"

Matt ran up to him and kicked him in the shins.

"It's not nice to hurt the elderly!"

"See ya!" Then the five apprentices ran off.

"Wow…what a little bastard that kid is…"

--

Walking to the castle, Matt began to wonder…

"This town looks peaceful, it looks like everything's just fine!"

"That seems suspicious…" Jess commented cynically.

"Do you think whatever is kidnapping those kids knows we're here?" Ryan wondered.

"Probably."

"Hey guys…I think a prostitute is following us…" Alex whimpered.

A black shadow like creature slowly crept behind the five apprentices. When they turned around, it was hiding again. Alex only saw it.

"There's nobody behind us Alex!" David said irritably.

"But I really think there's a prostitute following us!"

"Alex, do you even know what a prostitute is?" Jess asked him.

"They stalk people right?"

"No they don't Alex. You're thinking of stalkers. Ya know, people who stalk other people," Matt told him.

"Oh…what's a prostitute then?"

"Um…you know what? We should be heading to the castle."

Alex looked behind him. The shadow creature was there, then it vanished.

"Oh my gosh…" Alex ran after the others.

--

In the front of the castle, two guards stood. One of them was Link's father, the general. The apprentices approached them.

"Halt! Are you the apprentices they said were coming here?"

"Who else?" Ryan said, rolling his eyes.

"Okay, get in. The general will take you to your mentors."

Link's dad opened the gate and began to lead them in. While walking to the castle's basement, the general began to explain.

"You five are special, you know that? You must be really good for your townspeople to choose you to be apprenticed early."

"No, not really. Most of us were picked at random," Ryan explained.

"Oh, really? Well anyways…your mentors are my sons, Link."

"All of them are named Link?"

"Yeah, but that's why they have nicknames: Green, Red, Blue, Vio and Shadow."

"Why are they named after colors?" Alex asked.

"Because of their clothes."

"Why?"

"Because their clothes resemble their colors."

"Why did you name them all Link?"

"I didn't."

"Why are they named Link then?"

"Because they're the same person."

"Why?"

"Because Link was one person, then he split into four, then his shadow came and he's technically Link too."

"Why?"

"Because Link needed more than one person to kick Ganondorf's ass."

"Why?"

"What's your name kid?"

"Alex."

"Okay, I'll make sure to keep note that you're the INSANELY annoying one."

"That's not nice!" Alex scolded.

"Yes, it isn't nice."

"Okay, just making sure you know."

"I know, now shut up. We're here."

Link's dad opened the door. The apprentices stepped in to see five teenage boys wearing green, red, blue, violet, and black.

"These are the five kids chosen to be apprenticed: Matt, David, Alex, Ryan, and Jess," Link's dad introduced them. "And kids, these are my sons: Green, Red, Blue, Vio, and Shadow."

"I thought you just told Alex that your sons' names were Link!" David pointed out.

"Oh forget what I said! Anyway, it's time to assign you guys. Step up in front here."

The apprentices walked up in front of the five Links. Looking at them, Green thought of what Zelda said that the monster said, "It's their turn now." Could've it possibly been referring to these apprentices? Suddenly, Red started gasped at something.

"What is it, Red?" Green asked.

"That boy! You're the one who blamed me for arson in that village!" Red said pointing to Matt.


	4. Flashback

"Um…no I didn't?" Matt lied. He remembered Red. It was because of that day that his village always looked upon him as a juvenile delinquent.

--

**FLASHBACK** (from the manga)

_"Help me!" Matt was running away from a mob of angry villagers. He had stolen the Fire Rod and…you know, set a few building on fire. As he was running, there was a boy, garbed in a red tunic, who happened to be in his way. Matt ran up to him for help. This boy happened to be Red._

_"Who are you? What is wrong?" Red asked confused._

_"I've been mistaken for a thief, help me dude. I didn't steal anything!"_

_Angry shouts were heard from the mob._

_"There he is! You thief!"_

_"Burning everything on top of stealing!"_

_Matt hid behind Red as he tried to explain._

_"Who are you?" a villager asked irritably._

_"Wait a minute! This kid says he didn't steal anything."_

_"He's obviously lying. Oh come on…"_

_"I don't think it's good to just accuse people like that. Hey, why won't you try explaining to these people, huh, he's gone?"_

_When Red turned around to talk to Matt, he was gone. His sword and shield had disappeared as well. That made the villagers angrier._

_"Damn, you let him escape!"_

_"You were probably involved in this too!"_

_"No I'm not. I'm just a hero traveling to defeat Gufuu," Red tried to explain._

_"Hero? There is no hero that doesn't wield a sword!"_

_"No way!"_

_"Get him! Give us back what you stole!"_

_After a while, Matt found himself next to Red, hiding behind a bush._

_"For real, those townspeople need to take a break," Matt said._

_Matt expected Red to be happy to see him, but…_

_"You! Gimme back my sword!"_

_"What are you talking about, I don't know!" Matt didn't know what the hell Red was talking about._

_"You liar!"_

_"Hmph, you're just like those townspeople. You're the one who said it's not good to accuse people like that!" Matt scolded._

_"Uh…"_

_Matt didn't even know Red had a sword. "You never had a sword. It's the truth!"_

_"You think so? Maybe you're right…I might've dropped it during that rapid stream."_

_Matt didn't know what he was talking about, but if it got him out of some trouble… "Yeah that's probably it! You'll be fine without that sword. I'll let you borrow this weapon I found. Here." He gave the Fire Rod to Red._

_"Really? Wow, thanks a lot. Anyhow, what's this used for…" Red accidentally alerted the villagers by setting some trees on fire._

_This is my chance! Matt thought. "Someone! An incendiary! (arsonist)"_

_"So it really was you! You used that to set the town on fire!" The angry villagers swarmed after Red._

--

The last of what Matt saw was Red running for his life and screaming. Afterwards, the villagers found out he was to blame anyway. Obviously, Red still remembered Matt and that incident. While Matt was having this flashback, Red was explaining what happened.

"And then he said, "Someone! An incendiary!" Then the villagers chased me out!"

"Is that true?" Link's dad asked Matt.

"No…kinda…yes."

"Okay. Red, just to let you know, it doesn't matter if Matt did that, because he's Green's apprentice and not yours."

"Yes!" Another childhood trauma avoided, Red smiled at the thought.

"Okay, did you hear that? Green, you'll mentor Matt," Link's dad said again.

"Got it," Green confirmed.

"Red, you'll mentor Alex. Blue, you'll mentor David. Shadow, you'll mentor Ryan. And Vio, you get the girl."

Jess gave the general a dirty look.

"Okay…it'd be easier if we knew their names, Dad," Blue implied.

"Oh right. Alex is the blonde one, David is the one with the wavy hair, Ryan is the one with fluffy hair, and Jess is the girl."

"What do we do now?" Jess asked.

"I don't know, why don't you show them around and get to know their personalities? Or maybe start training?"

At that training suggestion, Green examined the apprentices. If they ever needed to go against someone like Ganondorf, could they do it?

"Anymore questions?" Link's dad asked impatiently.

Alex raised his hand.

The general sighed. "Ok Alex, what's your question?"

"What's a prostitute?"

We're screwed…Green thought to himself.


	5. Deadlock

Before heading leaving the castle, the apprentices were sent to their rooms to unpack. Green told the others about what he thought about Princess Zelda's vision.

"So maybe those apprentices are what's going to save Hyrule!" Red agreed.

"I still don't understand how they're going to take us away," Vio said. "But if there are visions coming to Zelda and kids are being kidnapped mysteriously, I guess that's a possible outcome."

"We can't let it happen that easy though, I won't be taken away without a good fight!" Blue confidently exclaimed.

"Yeah, but if we try and prevent it from happening, it could still happen anyway."

"Okay wait, Zelda didn't say it was going to happen soon. It could happen maybe even 3 years from now," Green pointed out.

"We should concentrate on training those kids, if they are the ones to defeat that new evil force."

"Probably, they should be down here in about 10 minutes..."

--

"Well guys, what do you think they're gonna make us do?" Matt asked.

"Probably sword training," Jess guessed.

"I never used a sword, ever."

"What? Then how the hell are you here now?" Ryan asked surprised.

"Most of us got picked at random, remember?"

"So... they're gonna teach us how to swing swords?" David asked, unsure if that was important.

"Yeah, that pretty much sums it up."

"What a rip off!"

"It can't be that bad, this should be fun," Alex said happily.

"Oh my goddesses Alex! Shut up, can't you just pretend to agree with our cynical comments?"

"No."

"Well whatever, we have to do what they say," Ryan pointed out.

--

They met up with the five Links on the training grounds behind the castle.

"Okay, first, we've got to test your skill with swords. So each of you will be sparring each other, until one of you reaches a deadlock. Like, if you've gotten your sparring partner into a death situation. Therefore, you win," Green explained. He gave them REAL swords to train with.

"We already get real swords?" Matt asked excitedly.

"Well yeah, that not a problem, is it?"

"No not at all..."

"Okay Matt, I want you to fight... David."

_But David's a pro fencer and I never even held a sword! _Matt began panicking at the thought, but decided to suck it up and get on with it.

"GO!"

David sliced the side of Matt's shirt. Then he began swiftly swinging his sword in different directions as Matt tried to dodge all of them.

_I've got to use the sword!_ Matt thought to himself.

While David was swinging away, Matt swung his sword as hard as he could towards David's sword. With that harsh impact, David's sword flew out of his right hand and it landed further away. Matt put his sword near David's neck.

"Deadlock," Matt whispered to him.

"Matt wins this round! Okay, Alex, you fight Ryan."

Alex and Ryan stood there in the middle of the training ring.

"You know, I'd rather work out this conflict than--" Before Alex could finish that little wimp out explanation, Ryan was over there, standing over him with his sword.

"That was easy."

"Okay, Ryan wins this round. Now Matt and Ryan, I want you each to fight each other and the victor will duel Jess."

"Sounds fair."

Ryan charged forward towards Matt. With his sword, Matt blocked Ryan's attack, but now they were in a lock. Matt could feel Ryan was stronger than him, and that he would be sliced if he didn't get out of this lock. Ryan could charge forward any moment and put him in a deadlock situation.

Suddenly, Matt got an idea. He got Ryan and himself near a rock, then, he removed his strength from his sword and Ryan did charge forward.

"Got ya!"

But then Matt moved out of the way, Ryan's sword got stuck in the rock.

"On the contrary, I think I've got you," Matt put his sword next to Ryan's neck.

"Good thinking Matt!" Green complimented. "Now fight Jess."

Jess stepped into the ring, looking confident.

"GO!"

Before Matt realized it, Jess was already making a move. She swiftly charged towards him.

Big deal, I'll use the same trick on her as I did with Ryan, Matt thought. But then, instead of going forward, Jess swerved around Matt and kept running.

_What the hell is she doing?_ Matt was confused.

Jess turned back and ran past him again, only this time, she cut him in the side. Then she did the same thing, Matt couldn't even keep track of her since she was moving too fast. Basically, Jess was ripping him to shreds. When she stopped, she did a spin attack and knocked Matt's sword out of his hands.

Unarmed, Matt could do nothing as Jess was about to hit him with a final blow to the head.


	6. She's Weird

"Jess! Stop!"

Jess stopped immediately and sheathed her sword, she smirked over her victory. Green helped Matt back up.

"Okay, training is over for now. I think you guys should go to the infirmary to have yourselves healed. Especially you Matt, you've got a bunch of marks on your sides," Green decided.

The five apprentices walked to the infirmary, all of them eyeing Jess cautiously.

"Are you okay, Matt?" Alex asked, a worried look in his big blue eyes.

"Yeah, I'm just fine," Matt said defensively. He was walking slowly behind David, slightly limping.

"Ya know, Jess served you up pretty good for a sparring match," Ryan said skeptically.

"I'm okay."

"Who would've thought that little girl could put up such a fight?"

"Definitely not me."

"Did you see it? She was zipping around, slicing you up, and she didn't even break a sweat!" David commented, impressed.

"Yeah, do you think she'll do that every time we fight? Maybe they'll give us sticks instead."

"Jess could probably kick your ass again with a stick."

"Like you could've done better."

Jess heard them talking about her behind her back. But she didn't care, she was rather pleased with their comments. Alex walked up next to her.

What does he want? Jess wondered warily.

"Jess… you didn't have to go that far to beat up Matt. He never even used a sword before," Alex said, standing up for the boy.

"I know, but shouldn't I always fight my best?"

"You could've gone easy on him…"

"No exceptions." Jess walked further on without Alex. She didn't want to listen to his nagging.

--

"Okay, next time, we're using STICKS. Just sticks," Green declared.

"Why? Nothing went wrong with the real swords," Blue said, obviously not noticing the harsh sparring.

"Jess almost killed Matt! Are you flipping stupid? Were you even watching?" Green started to question Blue angrily.

"Well... no."

"Vio, I think this appears to be your problem," Shadow pointed out.

"Yeah, because he got the apprentice that almost killed the other apprentice," Blue agreed.

"It's not only that..."

"Do you think Jess... wanted to kill him?" Vio asked, knowing what Shadow would say.

"Why would she want to?" Red asked nervously.

"I don't know..."

--

Princess Zelda was at the infirmary, helping the patients, when the apprentices came in.

"Oh my goddesses! What happened to you?" Zelda ran up to Matt to examine his wounds.

"She did it," the boys said, pointing to Jess. Jess just turned her head away.

"One of the nurses should take care of you. Is anyone else hurt?"

"Not really."

The boys followed Matt to the nurse.

"I'm going to my room," Jess said, turning to leave.

--

As Jess was walking, Zelda appeared before her.

"Why did you hurt that boy?"

"What? It was a sparring match."

"That looked a little harsh for a sparring match."

"Well you're always supposed to test your abilities to their full extent."

"Was that just a test to you?"

"Well... yeah. They needed to test our abilities, so I did."

"I think you misunderstood."

"No, I think I understood perfectly." Jess walked past Zelda to her room.

Zelda tried to examine the expression in her eyes, but couldn't. Jess's eyes were too dark to read, as if her eyes were meant to be unreadable. But Zelda was sure of one thing, that kid, was WEIRD.

--

Meanwhile, in the infirmary...

"Ow!"

"Hold still!"

The nurse was struggling to bandage Matt, who was obviously not fond of staying put long enough for her to bandage him.

"There, done. You can leave now, if you hurt yourself again, I'll get someone else to do it." The nurse left the room.

"Hey Matt! You know, for your first time sword fighting, you did pretty good!" Alex complimented.

"Thanks."

"You're a natural!"

Matt knew they were obviously trying to get his mind off of what happened with Jess. So, might as well let them think it's working.

"What are we doing tomorrow?"

"We're doing archery, and actually, since you're alright... we're starting again in two hours." Vio came into the room.

"Hey Vio," Alex greeted.

"Why are you here?"

"Well, I was told you guys were here, so I came to tell you. Wasn't Jess with you?"

"She went to her room cause everyone was pissed off at her," Ryan explained.

"Oh... because of--"

"Why else?"

"It'll be okay, we're using sticks next time."

"Why are we starting again so soon?" Alex asked.

"Since it's still daytime, we thought it was okay. Plus, we're kind of in a hurry to train you."

"Okay..."

"I'll go get Jess, you guys should be down at the training grounds again in a few minutes."

Vio had really been there to talk to Jess, to make sure she didn't hurt anyone again, but she wasn't there.

--

On the way there, Vio met up with Princess Zelda.

"Zelda, have you seen Jess?"

"Green told me about the training and I told her to go to the training grounds."

"Oh... but I needed to talk to her about..."

"I know, I talked to her about what she did to Matt."

Zelda told Vio what Jess had said.

"That seems... very creepy," Vio commented.

"Yeah, that's what I thought. How did you get stuck with the job to go talk to Jess?"

"Rock-paper-scissors..."

"Hey Vio!" Shadow was coming down the hall. "Training is starting again now, everyone's there."

"Okay." Vio and Shadow ran off to the training grounds.

"Damn... must everyone run off when we're talking about something important?" Zelda grumbled.

--

"You shoot the arrows into the targets ONLY. Did everyone get that?" Vio asked.

"Got it, let's do this already," Matt insisted.

"Go!"

Matt's arrow shot into the side of the target, David's shot past the target into a tree branch, Jess's arrow shot a little left of the bulls eye, and Ryan's arrow landed behind the target for unknown reasons. Alex didn't shoot his arrow.

"Oh... were we supposed to start?" Alex asked confused.

"No, of course not! That's why we just shot our arrows," David said sarcastically.

"But that makes no sense."

"I was being sarcastic you moron!"

"Shoot your arrow now, Alex," Vio instructed.

"Um... okay," Alex said nervously. Alex's arrow shot into the bulls eye, right on target!

"Wow! That was totally unexpected!" David exclaimed with disbelief.

"Yay! I got a bulls eye!" Alex cheered.

"Okay, archery and sword fighting is basically all you need to know. If there is anything else you can do, show it to us now," Green announced.

"What about martial arts?" Blue asked.

"None of us know martial arts," Red told him.

"Oh, I wanted to see someone kick through this wood." Blue held up one of those block breaking shelves. Two tiles of wood were in place.

"They said, if you can kick through at least two tiles, your kick is strong enough to break through a bone!" Blue explained enthusiastically.

"Wow... that would kick ass!" Ryan exclaimed.

"Can any of you do it?" Alex asked curiously.

"No, if we could, I would've broken Jago's face when I kicked him! Good times..." Green said remembering. That happened the day he was split into four (Shadow was there before the other Blue, Red, and Vio).

"It's getting dark, we should head back in now," Shadow suggested.

The apprentices followed their mentors out of the training grounds. When they turned around, Jess ran back to where Blue set up the block breaking shelf, and kicked through the wood. Jess did not know that Princess Zelda was watching from a high window.


	7. Getting Closer

In an underwater fortress, two villians spoke...

"It's time..."

"Time for what, Master Bellum?"

A large, freaky squid-like creature with one eye, sat in a large vat of violet goo in the center of the room. In front of him stood a young boy, he wore a black sweater, dark blue pants, and a black cap. The boy had black hair and amber eyes (sounding familiar...?)

"Shadow Ryan, you know we've been here for quite sometime. Ganondorf has failed us in the surface above, and so has Vaati. It's time for us to conquer Hyrule."

"Master Bellum, if we both leave, who will guard the Dark Mirror?"

"No one has found you, or the second Dark Mirror down here for years!"

"I guess you're right..."

Shadow Ryan was summoned out of the Dark Mirror years ago. Ganondorf has hidden him down in the Water Dome for twelve years, waiting for the apprentices to emerge. After Ganondorf and Vaati, Shadow Ryan summomed Bellum out of the mirror.

"Say...Master Bellum, how come I was the one chosen to be shadow cloned? Why not any of the other apprentices?"

"Ganondorf analyzed them all when they were born, he thought your real self would grow up to be the one to kill me. Therefore, he thought Ryan would the strongest, and thats why you were created."

"Well if I am the strongest...this should be easy."

A large, dark blue knight appeared in the room, carrying a child.

"Dammit! My Phantoms aren't finding those apprentices! They keep asuming every child could be them," Bellum growled.

"Then why do you keep sending them?" Shadow Ryan asked confused.

"Even if they kidnap the wrong children, it will put fear into the world above."

"Those apprentices...are they that special?"

"They're meant to defeat me. If I am defeated, someone else will take Hyrule."

"What about the Links?"

"They will be in my prison very soon... just you wait, Hyrule will be ours!"

Shadow Ryan didn't exactly know how Bellum was going to capture the Links, but he decided to go along with it.

--

"So you saw her kick through the blocks?" Blue gasped in suprise.

"Yes," Zelda answered.

"Is that bad, or good?"

"I'm not exactly sure..."

"If Jess could break through that wood, who knows what kind of power she might have?" Shadow asked.

"Are you sure breaking through the wood makes her strong enough to break a human bone with her foot?" Vio asked, a little skeptical.

"YES!" Blue assured.

"Hey, who says Jess is going to hurt anybody? I don't think she will," Zelda said, speaking up.

"She's got a point," Red agreed.

"Jess almost killed Matt before! Did you forget that?" Blue asked him.

"But maybe she didn't notice what she was doing."

"How the hell could she not?"

"I hear you guys you know." Jess opened the door and walked in.

"HEY! Why are you here?" Blue questioned.

"Well I dunno... maybe cause this is my room?"

All was silent.

"Oh...right. Maybe it wasn't a good idea to have a discussion on Jess, in her room," Red realized.

"Just to let you know, I'm not going to hurt anyone. I was showing my best skill, and if my best skill is lethal, then thats all you need to know. You guys go around everyday telling me not to kill people anyway," Jess pointed out.

"Ok then..." Vio said, a little embarrassed. What Jess said kind of made them seem like a bunch of paranoid freaks.

"Don't you guys have somewhere else to be?"

"Yeah, yeah we do," Shadow said, just wanting to get out of there.

As the Links and Zelda walked down the hall, Green asked, "Who's retarded idea was it to have a talk about Jess, in Jess's room anyway?"

--

Matt lay down on his bed.

"I've never been so tired in my life!"

"Do you think it's going to be like this everyday?" Alex asked curious.

"Maybe not, they were only testing us today," Ryan pointed out.

"So it's going to get harder?"

"Probably."

"It can't be that bad," Matt assured.

"Yeah, training starts at like 12:00 in the afternoon, we could sleep in."

"Will you all shut up? I'm trying to go to sleep! It's midnight," David whined.

"Whoa, really? We've been up that long?" Matt asked suprised.

"I guess it's time to sleep then," Alex said, pulling out a teddy bear.

"...Alex, why do you have a teddy bear?" Matt asked.

"He's my bestest friend!"

"Alex, teddy bears are for sissys," David commented.

"What's a sissy?"

"Oh my god! Jess is so lucky she gets to be in a room alone."

--

"No! Get away!"

Zelda woke up from the same visionary dream she told Green about. This time it was more clear: the monster taking the Links away seemed to be a large squid-like creature and an unidentified boy in the background. It said the same thing as well, "It's their turn now."

"It's their turn now... it must be talking about those apprentices," Zelda finally figured. "But who was that monster?"

She thought about it a little more... _And who was that boy?_

It seemed like that moment was going to come soon, and it probably was.


	8. One Down

Matt and Alex walked down to the breakfast table, everyone was already there.

"Cool, a fruit cup!" Alex said excitedly, eyeing the breakfast table.

"You're a fruit cup," David mocked.

"Is being a fruit cup good or bad?"

"Alex, it was a joke," Matt told him.

"Oh... that's not funny." Alex took the fruit cup and left.

"What took you two so long to get down here?" Green asked.

"We woke up last."

"No, thats not it!" David laughed.

"Huh?"

"Ryan woke me up and he decided we should go down here and leave you with Alex. If we left him alone, he'd probably cry."

"Why you... yeah, Alex would cry."

"Ok, today is official training. You guys know that, right?" Green reminded.

"We know."

"Analyzing your skills yesterday, you will each be given different training," Vio explained.

"What do you mean?"

"We'll be training your strengths," Shadow translated.

--

All of the apprentices stood there, waiting to hear what their mentors would say.

"All of you will be trained to be sword fighters, except Alex," Red announced.

"What? I'm not strong enough to be a knight? Are you sending me back? I don't want to go back!" Alex whined.

"You're going to be an archer! Geez, the world is not going to end!" Blue told him.

"Oh, ok then..."

"Here are you're practice weapons," Shadow said, giving them sticks. Except Alex, who got a real bow.

Everyone split and took a piece of space for training.

"Matt, your best strength in sword fighting would be quick-thinking," Green told him.

"Oh that's lame!"

"No, remember when you were cornered by Ryan? What did you do?"

"I loosened my grip on the sword, then moved out of the way. I know Ryan is strong, so he'd get his sword stuck in the rock behind me." Wow, that sounded smart_, _Matt thought to himself.

"Exactly, so try this...wait. Hey Vio! Get down here!"

Vio came over when Green called.

"What do you guys want?"

"Put Matt in a swordlock," Green instructed.

"Why don't you do it?"

"Just do it." Vio obeyed.

"Ok Matt, there are no stones or anything, what do you do to get away from the swordlock?"

Matt stomped down on Vio's foot.

"YOW! That freakin hurt!" Vio shouted.

"Haha... I just wanted to see that again," Green laughed.

"Well, are you happy now?"

"Yes," Green answered. Vio went back to training Jess.

"Isn't it kind of pathetic to have your foot being stepped on as a weakness?" Jess asked skeptically.

"...Yes," Vio responded. "As I was saying, your best strength would be speed."

"Okay, cool."

"That kind of technique that you used yesterday was good, where did you learn it?"

"I taught myself."

"Oh... did you ever sword train before coming here?"

"Yes."

"Who was your teacher?"

"Nobody, I taught myself everything."

Vio had been expecting Jess to be trained by an elite sword fighter, but it was all her work.

"Okay, try and fight me," Vio ordered, picking up a stick. Jess began running up to him.

Is she really going to use the same technique as last time? Vio wondered.

When Jess was about to slash him on the right side, she quickly turned left and did a spin attack. Vio turned around and countered her attack with a spin attack as well. A swordlock.

"Since you have no speed here, what will you do?" Vio asked Jess.

She jumped back, freeing herself from the swordlock. Jess waited for Vio's next move. He leaped forward, his stick crashing down on the ground as Jess jumped out of the way. Vio came forward, slashing at Jess. Instead of blocking them, she dodged each one. Vio did a spin attack but Jess dodged that attack as well.

Then she suddenly lunged forward and pointed her stick towards Vio's neck.

"Deadlock," Jess whispered to him.

"Good..." Vio told her. He couldn't believe she actually got him in a deadlock.

Vio thought about it. Every time he fought someone, they tried to block his attacks. But Jess, instead of blocking, dodged everything. How impressive... Vio thought.

--

"David, your best strength would be agility."

"Blue, what's agility?"

"Um... I really don't know. But Vio said it was because you we're swinging that sword pretty fast at testing."

"Okay, so I have agility. What do I do now?"

"Do the same technique you did at the exam on this dummy," Blue said pulling out a large training dummy.

David nimbly swung his stick in all different directions, nailing the dummy every time.

"Good, if that was a real person. He would've gotten a heck of a beating," Blue complimented.

"No, he'd be laughing at this lame ass stick," David pointed out.

"Oh right."

"Now what?"

"Where did you learn sword training from?"

"Local academy, I was the best fencer in class."

"If you are, fight me."

"Already?"

"Yeah! Go ahead, try." Blue picked up a stick. He charged forward with the stick, slashing at David. David blocked each blow with ease. He attempted to lunge forward, but was blocked by Blue. They both jumped back, freeing themselves from the swordlock. David attempted to lunge again with more strength, Blue swung the stick as hard as he could to counter the lunge. David's stick broke in half and he flew forward from being off balanced.

"Ok, you win..." David admitted. He felt Blue's stick positioned behind his head.

"Thanks. Now wait here, I need to get you another stick."

--

"Your strength is... well strength," Shadow told Ryan.

"So I'm the strongest?"

"Yep."

"Sweet..."

"Yesterday, you thought you had Matt beat, didn't you? But then he moved out of the way and your sword got stuck in the stone."

"Um... yeah, that wasn't really smart, was it?"

"Exactly, so you should put that strength to good use."

"How?"

"For example, if one person is weaker than the other, their strengths are imbalanced. So the stronger person could push forward and beat the weaker person."

"Well, exactly how strong am I?"

"I'm going to see. Spar me and I'll figure it out."

Shadow waited for Ryan to come forward. If he came forward, then all Shadow would need to do is extend his stick. If Ryan ran into it, that'd be a deadlock, since a real sword would've probably killed him. As Shadow predicted, Ryan ran forward.

Here he comes...Shadow got ready.

When he thrust his stick forward, instead of running into it, Ryan jumped up and smashed the stick in mid-air. Then he pointed his stick towards Shadow.

Well that was unexpected, Shadow thought to himself.

"So how strong am I?" Ryan asked eagerly.

"Pretty good, kid."

--

"Your strength is accuracy," Red told Alex.

"Okay! So what do I do?"

"See that those targets?" Red asked, pointing to five targets in the distance.

"Yeah."

"Shoot each one with an arrow."

"Which one do I do first?"

"Um... how about the one closest to us, right there." Red pointed to a target about four yards away.

"Here it goes!" Alex shot the arrow into the bulls eye.

"Thats great! Now try the other ones further off."

Alex shot each arrow into the bulls eyes of the targets.

Wow, he is good, Red thought.

"What do I do now?" Alex asked eagerly.

"Hmmm... lets go to the river!"

"Why?"

"You'll see."

--

Shadow Ryan, with some Phantoms, were sneaking past the river to get to the castle. Bellum had given him the task of kidnapping the Links.

"Why do I always have to do the hard work?" Shadow Ryan muttered to himself.

"Hey boss, there's someone up ahead," a Phantom informed.

"Huh?"

Looking ahead, Shadow Ryan spotted Red and Alex.

"So when a fish jumps out, try and shoot it into that tree with an arrow," Red instructed.

A fish jumped out of the water.

"Oh my gosh! A fish!" Alex exclaimed.

"Now's your chance!" Red reminded him.

"Right... where'd the fish go?" The fish had landed back in the water.

"This is what they call training? This should be easy," Shadow Ryan whispered to himself.

"Are we going or not?" a Phantom asked impatiently.

"Yes, wait here." Shadow Ryan changed into a shadow creature and began to creep behind Red and Alex. Alex began to feel his presence.

"Red... I think there's something behind us," Alex whimpered.

"Where?" Red turned around, he saw nothing. But then he began to feel Shadow Ryan's presence too.

"Where'd it go?"

"Where ever it is, be careful..."

"Too late!" Shadow Ryan turned back to human form and grabbed Red from behind.

"AH!" Alex screamed.

"Let go!" Red tried to free himself from Shadow Ryan's grasp. It would be probably be easy to free yourself from a kid three years younger than you, but Ryan is strong. And Shadow Ryan is stronger.

"C'mon guys! Help me here!" The Phantoms came out from hiding and took Red.

"Ryan! What the heck are you doing?" Alex questioned.

"I'm not Ryan, I'm his shadow," Shadow Ryan corrected.

"His shadow?"

"Alex, get away from here! Don't worry about me, I'll be fine!" Red yelled

Shadow Ryan turned around to face him, "The boy is probably frozen in fear."

"Hey boss, what about the kid?"

"Take him as well, Master Bellum would be pleased to have captured an apprentice."

Bellum! Who's that? Red wondered.

"Where'd he go?"

"What do you mean?" Shadow Ryan turned around, but Alex was no longer there.

"Where is the freakin kid?" Shadow Ryan asked Red demandingly.

"You'll never catch him!"

"We'll see about that. Two of you Phantoms can take Red back to Bellum, the rest of you guys, come with me."

"How do you expect to keep me in their grasp long enough to get to your prison?" Red asked.

The two Phantoms disappeared in a puff of violet-black smoke, along with Red.

"One down, nine more to go," Shadow Ryan smirked.

* * *

_**Just to let you know, Shadow could probably kick Ryan's ass with his magic. But you're not supposed to use magic on your students.**_


	9. The Unexpected

"Where am I?"

Red was warped to a large dark room, the windows showed the underwater sea. The two Phantoms handcuffed him and were now walking with him to the center of the room. Bellum sat there waiting in his pool of gross violet goo.

"Where are the others?" Bellum demanded to know.

"Shadow Ryan is getting them right now, sir," a Phantom answered.

"Okay... as for this one, lock him up in a cell."

"Wait, who are you?" Red asked Bellum.

"I am evil Phantom Bellum, I command this underwater fortress you're standing in."

"Why did you kidnap me and take me here?"

"The Links and their apprentices are the only ones standing in the way of us taking over Hyrule, thats why we must imprison you."

"What? Our apprentices?"

"Oh shit... perhaps I've said too much, take him away!"

"Wah! No!"

The two Phantoms began to drag Red away. How will I help them? Red was desperately thinking.

--

"Boss! We'll loose too much time looking for that damn kid," a Phantom told Shadow Ryan.

"You're right... two of you go and find the kid. The rest of us will continue to the castle."

Two Phantoms began to walk in the other direction to try and find Alex as Shadow Ryan and the other Phantoms headed for Hyrule Castle.

"Here's the plan, I'll creep behind them in my shadow creature form and then pop out of nowhere like last time. Then I'll summon you when I'm there," Shadow Ryan explained to his Phantoms.

"Got it, boss."

Using the brick walls around the castle, Shadow Ryan climbed up to check the training grounds. The Links and their apprentices were waiting in the center. He jumped down and hid behind a bush waiting for the right moment to strike.

"Where are Red and Alex? They should be here right now…"

The Links and their apprentices were waiting together at the training grounds, it was time to call it a day.

"Well... they're both kinda scatterbrained, maybe they were distracted by something," Blue assured.

"Where could they possibly be? We checked the archery range..." Shadow pointed out.

"We might as well clean up while we're waiting," Vio suggested.

While cleaning up, Ryan felt a strange presence somewhere in the training grounds...

"Hey guys, do you feel like we're being watched?"

"You mean someone's stalking us?" David asked.

"Nope, I don't think we're being watched," Matt said unsure.

"It's probably your imagination, Ryan."

"Hey Jess, do you sense anything?"

"Not really..."

Oh crap! I forgot my real self could sense me... maybe he won't notice, Shadow Ryan thought to himself.

As Jess was cleaning up the kunai knives, she began to hear breathing behind her.

Is that breathing I hear? she wondered. Yeah it is, where is it coming from? Jess carefully glanced at her surroundings, not wanting to give away that she could hear someone. Not infront of me, not above me, not below me, not to the right or left...

Jess swiftly threw a kunai knife at the bush behind her.

"Goddammit!" Shadow Ryan was forced to jump out of the bush's covering.

--

Meanwhile...

I need to warn the others! Alex thought. He was running and hiding from the Phantoms and trying to contact the others. The two Phantoms were nearby.

"Do you think the boy is near?"

"Yes, I sense fear."

When the Phantoms turned around, Alex noticed that they have eyes on their backs. Maybe a weak spot? He took out his bow and arrow and shot one Phantom in the back. The Phantom became stunned and froze in his spot.

"Hey, what's wrong?"

"... Can't move!"

The arrows stun them! Alex realized. He shot another arrow into the other Phantom's back, they both seemed to be stunned. Alex ran out of the bushes and away.

"Hey... come back..."

"... Dammit."

At least I found out their weakness... I actually did something smart for once! Alex felt triumphant. He continued towards Hyrule Castle.

--

Everyone turned around to face Shadow Ryan. The Links unsheathed their swords, ready to fight.

"Who are you?" Vio calmly asked.

"He's from the Shadow World!" Shadow told them.

"That's right, I'm Ryan," Shadow Ryan stated.

"What? But I'm me," Ryan said confused.

"I'm your shadow."

"Oh forget it! Just tell us why the hell you're here," Blue demanded.

"I'm here to take you away!" Shadow Ryan summoned the Phantoms out of the ground, each Phantom grabbed a Link.

"... Wow, that was unexpected," Green said surprised.

"Now you'll all be imprisoned as your kingdom is taken over by great Master Bellum!"

"I'd like to see you try!" Blue taunted.

"Who do you think is going to save you?"

"That'd be me." Matt said, beginning to grab a sword from the clean up pile.

"Do you really believe that piece of shit will hurt anyone? Phantom armor is almost impossible to penetrate."

"Might as well try," David smiled, grabbing a sword. The Ryan and Jess followed his example.

"Wait! I want to know something, why is emo me trying to kidnap our mentors?" Ryan asked confused.

"...I am not emo."

"C'mon guys! Let's kick his ass!" Matt exclaimed.

"Too late, Phantoms! Away with our new prisoners!"

"Not so fast!"

"Oh... what now?"

The Phantoms holding the Links suddenly released them as they went into a dazed state. Arrows were shot into their backs.

"No way..." Matt stammered.

"It's..." Ryan continued.

"Just spit it out!" David exclaimed impatiently.

"Alex," Jess finished.

Alex was standing on top of the training grounds wall shooting arrows into the Phantoms backs.

"Stop it! Stop it you son of a bitch!" Shadow Ryan demanded.

Ignoring him, Alex jumped down and ran over to his fellow apprentices.

"Hey Alex! Where've you been?" Matt greeted.

"You know, around."

"Good job Alex," Green complimented. Green faced Shadow Ryan, "What are you going to do now?"

Shadow Ryan was speechless, he didn't know how he was going to succeed with his task. Suddenly, the earth began to shake...

"Whoa! Earthquake!" Alex cried.

"Hold on!" Matt shouted.

"Something tells me there's something bad coming," Jess announced.

"What do you mean?" David asked.

"For one, earthquakes don't form big yellow things," Ryan said, pointing to the yellow blob in the center of the training grounds.

A large squid-like form began to take shape in the center of the training grounds.

"So you came, Master..." Shadow Ryan said rather pleased.

"Who is that?" Green wondered.

"I've read about him before..." Vio informed.

"He's..." Shadow began.

"Evil Phantom Bellum." The creature was now levitating in its full form.

"What are you doing here Master?" Shadow Ryan asked.

"You were taking too long, so I decided to help out."

Bellum began to wrap one tentacle around Blue, he slashed at Bellum with his sword. But there was no effect.

"What the hell? Whoa!" Blue felt himself being lifted into the air.

"Blue!" Green shouted. Soon enough, Green was too being held by Bellum.

"Well... Vio and Shadow have a chance, right?" Blue asked.

"We're over here." Vio and Shadow were already taken as well.

"Now... I'll take you kids as well," Bellum said to the apprentices.

"Run! Don't turn back! Just go!" Green commanded then to run away.

"We won't leave you guys!" Matt yelled back at him.

David, Alex, Jess and Ryan began to leave already.

"We'll be fine!" Green shouted, trying to be assuring.

"But..." Matt was cut off as a large tentacle came swooping towards him. ... But instead of feeling pain, he felt someone dragging him away. He looked up to see it was Jess.

"What are you doing?" Matt questioned.

"Shut up! I'm saving your life."


	10. The Return?

_**This is a short chapter. Sorry, but I want the next chapter to have surprises too.**_

* * *

"Master! They're getting away!" Shadow Ryan exclaimed.

"Let them go, I'll have them soon. At least I have their masters. Back to the Water Dome!"

Bellum disappeared along with Shadow Ryan and the Links.

--

"Okay, is everyone here?" Alex asked.

"Yeah," Ryan confirmed.

"Phew... we all got away safely."

"Are you sure we're well hidden for now?"

"Yep."

"Shouldn't we be trying to save our mentors?" Matt wondered.

"Now that I think of it... we should be," David agreed.

"Hey, before we do any of that, shouldn't we have a plan?" Jess asked them.

"What's there to think about? We kill them with swords," David plainly said.

"Did you not see what happened? When Blue tried to use his sword, there was no effect."

"That's weird..." Matt agreed.

"Why do you think that happened?"

"I don't know..."

"That's because Bellum is not an ordinary monster." The apprentices turned around to see Bino.

--

"I can't believe we got caught!" Green exclaimed with disbelief.

"Zelda's prediction was right..." Vio realized.

"Oh really?" Blue asked sarcastically.

"I wonder where Red went..." Shadow wondered.

"Guys, I'm over here." Red was in the cell next to Shadow's.

"Red! So that's where you ended up..." Green said with realization.

"How did you get captured?" Vio asked curiously.

"Well..." Red told them about Shadow Ryan popping out of nowhere, the Phantoms getting him, and Alex fleeing.

"We weren't taken by the Phantoms, but by that huge squid guy," Blue told Red.

"What happened to the Phantoms?"

"Alex stunned them."

"Wow, I'm a good teacher then!"

"This is not the time guys, how are we going to get out of here? Got any ideas Vio?" Green asked hopefully.

"Not yet, I need time to think.

"You're never getting out of here." Shadow Ryan walked into the hall.

"What the hell do you want?" Blue questioned.

"I'm just here to tell you that you will most likely never get out, you will be stuck here as we take over Hyrule, and your apprentices will be joining you soon. Then you'll all rot here in the Water Dome's prison."

"So you're here to lift our spirits aren't you?" Green asked sarcastically.

"Yeah, and also I'm here to offer Shadow a position."

"What?" Shadow gasped.

"If you betray the Links, Master Bellum and I will allow you rule Hyrule with us, and you will be set free of this prison. Don't you miss being evil? C'mon, what do you say?."

Everyone stared at Shadow, awaiting his answer.

--

"Bino... what are you doing here?" Matt asked suspicious.

"... Maybe he's stalking us!" Alex suggested.

"For once, maybe Alex is right!" David agreed. "Bino, why are you stalking us?"

"Aw, thats not nice, you're supposed to do it like this. Bino, what the hell are you doing here? Are you stalking us?" Ryan corrected.

"Oh shut up, he's not stalking us," Jess snapped.

"Geez! I just came to tell you whippersnappers about the Bellum guy..." Bino told them.

"Ok, tell us then!" David said impatiently.

"To defeat Bellum and save your mentors, you need this sword called the Phantom Sword."

"And...?" Matt cued for him to continue.

"And what?"

"How do we get it?"

"Um... I don't know."

"I know you know!"

"See ya kids!" Bino ran awkwardly away from the apprentices.

"I didn't know he was still able to run," Alex commented.

"Yeah, I thought he was too old," David agreed.

"Do you guys know what the Phantom Sword is?" Ryan asked.

"Nope."

"We could go back to Hyrule Castle and look it up in the library," Jess suggested.

"Shut up Jess, no one likes you."

"Actually, I think that's a good idea," Matt agreed. "But isn't Bellum there?"

"I don't know..." Ryan said with uncertainty.

"I don't want to check," Alex whimpered.

"I vote Jess checks," David stated.

"Oh whatever, I'll just go." Jess walked out of their hiding spot.

"Hmmm... everything looks fine. OH MY FREAKING GOD!"

"Wah!" Alex screamed.

"Oh my god!" David shouted back.

"Huh? What?" Ryan asked confused.

"What is it Jess?" Matt asked worried.


	11. Escape

"I'm just screwin with you guys, there's nothing out there," Jess told them.

"Oh good," Alex said relieved.

"Forget the jokes, let's go," David urged impatiently.

"Let's go to the castle now," Matt suggested.

"Okay..." Ryan sighed.

--

"So Shadow, what's your answer?" Shadow Ryan asked.

"My answer is... never."

"Are you sure?"

"Yes, I'll never join evil again."

"Well! Suit yourself." As he said that, Shadow Ryan sulked away.

"Oh Shadow! I'm so proud of you for turning down that offer," Red complimented.

"Us Links stick together!" Green cheered.

"Well actually, I think if Shadow did join, he would've been able to help us escape," Vio pointed out. "But I'm touched that you didn't leave us."

"We could've been free? Aww why me?" Blue complained.

--

"Ok, where exactly is the library?" Matt asked, looking around the castle.

"They should have a map for this place..." David muttered.

"It could take forever to find it..." Alex said doubtfully.

"You're looking for the library?"

The group turned around to see Princess Zelda.

"Hi Princess..." Matt started. He didn't want to be the one to break the news that the Links were kidnapped by a giant one-eyed squid.

"I know why you're here... to look for information, right?"

"How did you know?"

"Through her bedroom window," Jess answered.

"How do you know about that?" Zelda asked suspicious.

"While we were training outside, I realized that there was a person looking at us from a fairly large window. I saw you."

"Oh... how observing of you."

"Does that mean you know that our mentors were captured, we have no idea where they are, and Bellum, the fat ass squid, and emo Ryan are planning to take over Hyrule?" Matt asked her, not realizing he just spilled the news out all at once.

"...What?"

"Well..."

"Oh this is horrible! I didn't know my vision would come true so early."

"What vision?"

"I told Green about it, this is what happened in my vision: A giant squid took your mentors away, and it said, "It's their turn now." And an unidentified boy was in the background."

"Emo Ryan?"

"I think you mean Shadow Ryan, Matt."

"Why is there a "shadow" me anyway?" Ryan asked impatiently.

"Excuse me Princess, we need to know where the library is," Alex said politely.

"Oh, it's right over there," Zelda said, pointing to the room right across from them.

Wow... Matt thought. "Thanks Princess."

"I forgot to mention, you know the monster in my vision? It was referring to you five. Please bring them back!"

"Don't worry, we could handle it," David assured confidently. He leaned against a display case, causing it to tip over and knock down all the other display cases in a domino-like fashion. All of them looked at the mess of shattered objects on the floor.

"Wow David, that was so coordinated," Ryan commented sarcastically.

"Um... you know what? We need to go save the world now, bye Princess!" Matt dismissed himself along with the others.

Princess Zelda stared at her treasured, crushed items once more.

"...Those were expensive!"

--

"Ok, if anyone finds something, say so," Matt instructed.

They split up. Matt began looking under "P" for "Phantom".

_Hmmm... Phantom Sword... it's not here. Phantom Bellum isn't listed either..._

"Found something!" Alex announced. He ran over to Matt holding a really old looking book.

"What's in there?" Jess asked, looking at the ratty old book.

"It's titled Sacred Swords."

"Let's see then," Matt said, taking the book and beginning to flip through the pages.

"Right there!" Alex exclaimed pointing to a sword with a golden hourglass emblem on it's handle.

"Okay, here it is," Jess began. "The Phantom Sword kills certain supernatural beings. It is needed for defeating very powerful monsters. It was lost years ago in the sea and hasn't been found. The Phantom Sword could only be forged by using three special metals: Crimsonine, Azurine, and Aquarine. And there's one more ingredient..."

"What is it?"

"The Phantom Hourglass."

"Oh..."

"Where are we exactly supposed to find these?" Ryan asked Jess.

"Probably atop one of the mountains."

"That could take forever! There are mountains everywhere! Even in the ground!" David whined, not realizing mountains only do come from the ground.

Suddenly, the castle started heating up. The walls began to shake and screaming was heard.

"What was that?" Alex gasped.

"Somethings coming..." Jess hissed. "Move!"

A large tail smacked through the library walls. The apprentices saw what appeared to be a large lava dragon. Sacred Swords was falling out of the sky.

"I got it," Jess assured, catching the book.

The dragon roared fiercely and released flames from its mouth.

"What's that?" Matt asked. Another book titled Hyrule's Legends conveniently fell out of the sky as well, landing on the ground next to Matt. He picked it up.

"Well that was convenient..."

"That dragons skull looks like its weak spot, but we can't beat it with these swords," Jess analyzed.

"Then what?"

"Run?" Alex suggested.

"For now..." The apprentices began to run to the woods.

The dragon lost sight of them and began to tear down the rest of the castle.

--

"Princess Zelda! You need to be safe," Link's father insisted. Zelda was riding on a small pure white horse.

"I will be, I'll escape the castle. Be careful!" She whipped the horse, making it run off into the distance, further and further away.


	12. Decision Making

"Ok... where should we start?" Matt asked. "We could go after the Crimsonine in Goron Mountain, the Azurine at the Summit of Frost, or the Aquarine at the Mountain of Ruins."

"When did you know where those metals were?" David asked suspicious.

"Uh... when I read the book."

"Oh..."

"Yeah, maybe you should try it sometime."

"What about the Phantom Hourglass?" Alex asked.

"The Phantom Hourglass is on an unknown mountain, so we have no idea where it is," Jess explained.

"So where do you guys wanna go?" Matt asked again.

"Goron Mountain!" Alex decided.

"The Summit of Frost," Ryan suggested.

"The Mountain of Ruins!" David yelled.

"I wanted to go look for the Phantom Hourglass," Matt said honestly. "Looks like it's a draw..."

"Jess didn't decide," Ryan pointed out.

"Ok Jess, where should we go?" Matt asked her.

"Goron Mountain," Jess answered.

"Huh? You agree with Alex?"

"ALEX?" David questioned.

"Uh... yeah," Jess replied, slightly confused to their reactions.

"Why?" Matt asked skeptically.

"Cause Goron Mountain is closest to Hyrule."

"Oh."

"Does that mean I'm not smart anymore?" Alex asked cluelessly.

"You were never smart to begin with!" David shouted at him.

"Shut up, we're going to Goron Mountain," Matt declared.

--

Princess Zelda was riding away from Hyrule Castle Town when a dark-robed figure suddenly appeared, frightening her horse.

insert freaked out horse sound here

"Whoa!" Zelda yelped out in surprise.

The horse stopped in front of the robed person.

_Must be a girl, _Zelda thought, examining the girl's figure. She looked to be about Zelda's age.

"Who are you? Are you lost?" Zelda asked her.

"No worries. I just want a simple favor," the girl replied in a familiar voice.

"What is it?"

"I'm not a very wealthy kid... I can barely keep myself alive selling these peaches," the girl said, taking out a shiny red fruit.

"I might as well buy one, I'll need it for my journey."

"Great, that'll be 5 rupees for each."

"I'll take one," Zelda decided, handing the girl the rupees.

"Thank you," the girl grinned. "Aren't you going to taste it?"

"Right now?"

"Why not?"

"I guess I could take a bite."

"Excellent..."

Just about when Zelda was going to take a bite, she threw the apple to the ground.

"Like I would fall for that one! What do you take me for? A foolish naive idiot?"

"Tch... Course not," the girl said in a more serious tone. She began to take off her hood...

--

Back at the castle...

"We need more back up!" Link's father commanded.

"The other knights have gone after Princess Zelda!" Valenzuela told him.

"Those idiots! I told her to escape!"

"What? We need to get those soldiers out of the castle! The inside is like a fire trap!"

"I will tell them, you hold off these forces with the remaining knights!"

"Yes general!"

Link's father entered the castle and began the frantic search.

"All Hylian knights must come back to the battle! Princess Zelda is safe!"

He called out the knights names and shouted the same thing over and over again.

"Where the hell could they be?" the general asked frustrated.

"General! What are you doing here?"

"A soldier?"

--

"Curse that dragon! It's not dying!" Valenzuela said angrily.

"There must be some of that gunpowder we have, right?" a soldier asked.

"Oh yes! But the other knights and the general are inside the castle!"

"He better hurry..."

"We're here!" the knights from inside the castle came running towards them.

"Great! Fire the cannon!" Valenzuela commanded.

"Sure thing!"

The giant canon was loaded with all the remaining gunpowder.

"Get away from the dragon! We're firing the canon!"

The knights retreated from the dragon and got out of the way of the canon's aim. The dragon stopped attacking, probably confused.

"FIRE!"

A large firey explosion surrounded the dragon, but also caused part of the castle to explode into flames.

"Did it work?"

"I don't know..." Valenzuela replied, unsure of what to say.

"Where's the general, Valenzuela?"

"Is he not with you?"

"No! I thought he was here."

"Oh snap...

The dragon blew off the smoke like it was nothing and roared in anger.

"It didn't work!"

"No shit," Valenzuela replied bluntly.

"What do we do now? The general isn't here!"

"Keep fighting as best as you can!"

Suddenly, as the knights began to again charge forward, a powdery mist surrounded them.

"What is this?"

"I can't see!"

"I'm feeling sleepy..."

The whole troop was out like a light.

* * *

**_Sorry for the short chapter, it will get better. Please review._**


	13. Shadows and Mischief

The five apprentices were still at the same spot.

"So Jess… where exactly is Goron Mountain?" Matt asked shyly.

"If I'm right, it should be to the left of Hyrule Castle Town. After we get out of here, just make a left and keep walking up the mountain."

"Ok then… do you guys remember the way outta here?"

"No clue," Ryan casually said.

"Sorry, no," Alex said politely.

"I think it's that way!" David decided that it was the right way and began to run through the path.

"Hey wait! David, get back here!" Matt yelled after him.

"Just follow me!"

David ran into a palm of a man's hand.

"Ow! What the…"

He looked up to see Bino.

"Ah! Are you everywhere?" David questioned him.

"No. By the way, you were about to run back to the burning castle."

"Oh real smart, David," Ryan sarcastically commented.

The others had caught up by that time.

"If you're so smart, where's the exit?" David challenged the old man.

"That 'a way," Bino told him, pointing opposite of the way David was headed.

"Um… thanks," Matt said nervously.

_Ok… that's getting freaky_, Matt thought to himself. _Bino always pops up at the most convenient times, but that's just weird._

--

"Ow…"

Link's father found himself awakening on the ground of a cold hard floor.

"So you finally woke up…"

"Who's there?" Link's father demanded to know. It suddenly flashed back into his mind: he was supposed to be looking for the other knights.

"Where are the others?"

"Calm down, they're fine for now. Most of them…"

"Who are you?"

"Back to the same question… don't you recognize me?"

"Show yourself!"

Out of the shadows came a man who looked much like Link's dad.

"Oh! It can't be!" The man looked exactly like Link's father, except he had black armor and darker features than he.

"It is. I am you, your shadow."

"Impossible! The dark mirror was destroyed."

"There's another. Master Bellum has summoned more people out of the Shadow World to take care of business. Who better to capture you than yourself?" the shadow general grinned evily.

"Who else is here?"

"Look around."

Link's dad's vision cleared up a little more and he found himself looking into the cell of Red.

"Dad! You're awake!" Red cried happily.

"Red! What are you doing here?"

"Being captured…"

"Where are Green, Blue, Vio, and Shadow?"

"They locked up Vio and Shadow next to me and Green and Blue are locked up across from them."

"Dear god… how on earth could've we let this happen? Who will save the day?"

"If you must know, our lives lie in the hands of five immature apprentices," Blue muttered.

"Blue! You're awake!" Red exclaimed happily.

"Uh… yeah. I just took a nap."

"Hate to break up the reunion, but I'm still here," the shadow general said.

"Well leave!" Blue barked at him.

"No."

"Please?" Red said nicely.

"Okay," the shadow poofed out of the hall.

"…Oh wow."

"Blue, wake up Green and the other two somehow. We need to talk," Link's father said in a more serious tone.

"Green! Wake up!" Blue screamed into his ears, shaking him violently.

"Ok! Ok! I'm awake, violent much?"

"Dad is captured. Wake up Vio and Shadow."

"How?"

"No need to do that," Vio replied. "Shadow and I have just been eavesdropping."

"Oh... well, good job!" Link's dad complimented. "Have you guys thought of a plan to escape?"

"Not really..." Vio admitted reluctantly. "The walls are hard stone and the bars are solid wood."

"Wood, huh? Maybe I could break out," Link's father smiled.

"No. Your shadow put the liberty of putting you in a cell with iron bars," Vio said, examining his father's cell.

"Dammit."

--

"Shadow Darius!" Bellum called impatiently.

Link's father's shadow appeared in front of the giant squid.

"Did you lock up your double?"

"Yes, master. How many Shadows did you summon out of the mirror? Where are they now?"

"Hmmm... Shadow Ryan is drawing on knocked out soldiers faces, you're here, and the girl is doing her job. I plan to summon more once I feel like it."

--

"Hehehe..." Shadow Ryan laughed.

He was already done drawing on most of the Hylian army with a black ink. He was now writing "I LIKE BUNNIES" on Valenzuela's face.

"Can't I get a turn boss?" a Phantom whined.

"Ugh... if you really want to." Shadow Ryan handed over the pen to the Phantom.

"Oh boy!" it said excitedly. The Phantom drew a mustache on Valenzuela. "What do you think boss?"

"You forgot the unibrow, stupid!" Shadow Ryan gave Valenzuela a little eyebrow makeover.

--

"Ah!" Zelda cried out in terror.

The girl looked exactly like Zelda, Only wearing a blue dress and brunette. It was Shadow Zelda.

"Surprised to see you?" Shadow Zelda grinned.

"Your dress is a hideous color! You can't be me! You're not blonde!"

"Ugh... and what do you think I think of you?"

"Excuse me princess!"

"I'll excuse you!" Shadow Zelda took out a bow and arrow and aimed at Zelda's head.

"Aren't you going to capture me?" Zelda tried to change the subject.

"No, Master Bellum isn't a dumbass, he's going to kill you before you do anything."

"Oh god, no! Run away Levika!" She whipped the horse and they got running.

"You're not getting away that easy!" Shadow Zelda shouted.

Zelda kept riding away.

"Oh crap... I don't have a horse."

_I guess the best thing to do is to go back to Master Bellum and continue this later..._

"You're getting away that easy... this time!" she yelled after the real Zelda.

* * *

_**Link's father has a name! Gasp Anyways, Levika is the name of Zelda's horse, if anyone didn't catch that. I also change from Italic thoughts to just plain typing... I guess I didn't notice that before.**_


	14. LonLon Ranch: Happens There, Stays There

Outside on sitting on the fence, was a young girl with long lovely red hair and sparkling blue eyes. She wore a simple dress and an orange neckerchief. Lonnie was her name, and she was bored.

Her mom, Connie, owned LonLon Ranch, it was their family living there for generations. She was done tending to the horses and had already gone picking peaches from the ready to harvest trees. Her mom was now preparing dinner from the fish she caught by the river, it wouldn't be long now. Lonnie looked up into the sunset…

"I guess this is as much excitement I'll get in one day," she said sadly.

Just then, she heard footsteps coming from the ranch entrace:

"Well I guess we have no where to go…"

"This'll do."

"Who's there?" Lonnie called out.

Five kids about her age appeared. _What could they be doing here?_

"Are you lost?" she asked them. There were four boys and one girl.

"No… We need a place to stay," the boy with a striped knit cap said to her.

"What's your name?" Lonnie asked him.

"It's Matt."

"Ok Matt, this isn't really a lodge you know."

"So that's a no?"

"Just saying. I'll ask my mom."

_We haven't had visitors in a long while__!_ Lonnie thought happily. _I hope Mom lets them stay._

She barged into the kitchen, Connie was standing there chopping up some vegetables.

"Mom! There's some people out by the gate, they're asking if they could stay for the night."

"Oh really? Let me see."

Lonnie led her mom to where the five kids waited.

"Are these friends of yours, Lonnie?" Connie asked a little clueless.

"No, they just happened to come by."

"Well if it's just overnight, I suppose it's okay," Connie decided. "What are your names?"

"I'm Matt."

"I'm Alex!"

"The name's David."

"Ryan."

"Jess."

"Okay, I'm sure Lonnie knows where the guests sleep."

"Yeah. C'mon, I'll show you."

Lonnie began to walk upstairs, the room was empty.

"We don't really have mattresses for you to sleep on, but please make yourselves comfortable," she said kindly. There were only two beds.

"Don't worry, it's pretty nice," Alex commented.

"It's alright," Ryan said, leaning against one of the beds.

"Thanks," Matt said casually.

"No problem." Lonnie walked out of the room and went downstairs to help her mother with supper.

"We'll set off to Goron Mountain tomorrow," Matt told them.

"Ok… so we stay here until we get up and go. Right?" Ryan asked him.

"Yep. Hopefully, we won't run into Shadow Ryan or the giant calamari."

"I'd be very nice of the Goron leader to hand over the Crimsonine just like that," Alex pointed out.

"Exactly, it won't be that easy. We should be ready to accept whatever challenge he tells us to do."

"Even go into the volcano," Jess told them.

"…In the volcano?"

"Yeah. What, you didn't know about that?"

"…You know what? We'll be ready for that too. David, you're awfully quiet, don't you have anything to complain about?"

"Nah, not right now. I'm gonna go get some fresh air."

"Ok then. It's not like we're going anywhere."

David walked out of the room, down the stairs, and out the door. It was nice outside with the breeze, the comforting atmosphere, and the silence. He didn't remember the last time anything was this peaceful.

In Serenity Village, David had been surrounded by others asking him for advice on fencing or by other people challenging him, he never really got a break. Here, it was people yelling at him, telling him he's choosing the wrong path, or telling him he's going to bump into a tree (which by the way, hurt).

"Huh?"

David turned around, there was Lonnie.

"Oh, it's you."

"The others told me you went outside, supper's going to be ready soon."

"Oh, well thanks."

"Hey… is it okay if I ask where you and your friends are headed? I'm just curious," Lonnie said shyly.

"Ha… you'd probably think I was crazy."

"No honestly! I'll believe you."

"Ok then, I'll tell ya. Here's how it started..."

David told Lonnie the whole adventure: how he was picked, how boring it was on the way to Hyrule Castle Town, the training, and about the burning castle. It was quite a story.

"Really? My mom was just at Hyrule Castle Town this morning selling our crops!" Lonnie said bewildered.

"Well it's true."

"What an exciting life you must have, I wish my life were that great..."

"It must not be so bad around here. It's must be peaceful and fun with all the animals and working hard."

"Not really if you've been doing it your whole life."

A small brown horse came over to Lonnie and nudged her affectionately.

"Oh Epona! I thought you were in the stable," Lonnie exclaimed.

"Huh?"

"This is Epona, she's one of my good friends."

"Hey there..."

"Go on, pet her. She doesn't bite."

"Um... ok." David patted the horse on the head. "I've never really been near animals before, except for hunting..."

"Oh... well that's ok. I don't think I'm friends with any deer," Lonnie giggled. "Go on, Epona. You should go back to the stable and rest."

The little horse

"Why is it that a pretty girl like you is here on a farm?"

Lonnie blushed, "I was born here on the ranch, it's been my family's ranch for generations. My dad died a while ago tho... he got accidentally got hit by a wagon."

"Ouch... that must've hurt."

"Yeah. My mom and I have to run the ranch by ourselves now. I never get to play anymore, but I've always wanted to go an adventure."

"An adventure, huh? Maybe I could arrange that..."

"What do you mean?"

"Maybe take you with me?"

"Really? That would mean the world to me! But of course I'd need to ask my mom..."

"Are there any weapons you can use?"

"Not really... I've used a bow and arrow before. I think it's in the shed."

"Eh... maybe they'll take you."

"Ok, I'll go tell my mom later... I don't want her to be sad without me. It'll be awfully lonely without anyone around."

"Maybe she'll understand."

"Yeah, you're right David."

"You know, there is an upside with having your parents not around to watch you."

"What is that?"

"It means I could do this..." And he kissed her, David and Lonnie.

"Oh wow..." Lonnie blushed.

"Lonnie! What's taking so long?" Connie called from the house.

"Coming Mom! We better go inside," Lonnie told David.

"This'll be our secret, right? No one will know about that kiss."

"Yeah... my mom would go all gooey on me about it."

"Ok, just making sure." They both began to walk back.

_Nothing's ever a safe secret..._

* * *

_**Who saw this coming? I bet no one, lol. Anyways, who can guess who thought the last sentence? No prizes, just for fun. There's nothing really too funny in this chapter, it's more of the plot right now. And I bet some people will wonder, "Why couldn't I just name the girl Malon?" **_

_**I named her Lonnie instead because it's not like every time someone had a baby girl on LonLon Ranch they named her Malon. It would mean that it'd be like this:**_

_**"It's a girl! Let's name it Malon."**_

_**"It's a girl! Let's name it Malon, again!"**_

_**"It's a girl! Let's name it Malon, again! Just to spite the author of this fanfic!"**_

_**In my opinion, it'd be kinda crazy to name every girl there "Malon", so there's Lonnie. Thank you for reading my short rant about naming all** **the girls on LonLon Ranch "Malon". **_


	15. Devising

Shadow Zelda appeared in front of Bellum.

"Did you finish the job?" he asked her.

"No, she didn't fall for it. Then she ran away on horseback."

"Crud… Well there's always the next day… We'll have Princess Zelda behind my bars soon."

"Thanks, Master. What happened to Darius?

"Locked up."

"Excellent…"

"I'm thinking of another person to summon…"

"Like who?"

"That the question."

"Huh… Ask Shadow Darius. You've locked up bitch I would consider a threat."

"Shadow Darius!"

"Coming!" Shadow Darius had been watching the prisoners.

"I'll be back," he growled. He left them and went to answer Bellum's call.

"Vio! Have you thought of anything?" Blue asked impatiently.

"We could try to trick a Shadow into letting us out. Maybe Shadow should talk to them since he is one of them."

"Ok, I'll do it," Shadow agreed.

"But how could we trick them?" Darius asked.

"Dad, you're too far away for me to whisper to, but it's actually quite simple," Vio assured him. "But for the plan to work, we need the most naïve guard around here."

"Who would that be?"

"Not your shadow, maybe a Phantom?"

"But a Phantom might be too strong, and some can warp," Shadow pointed out.

"True… maybe if we're lucky, Shadow Ryan will guard us. I think he's our best shot."

"What if Shadow Ryan doesn't show up to guard us, ever?"

"We'll just have to hope…"

"Hey, remember the apprentices?" Red reminded them.

"That's true… maybe they'll come through," Green agreed.

"It's good to have a back up plan," Vio told them.

"I wonder what's happening now…"

"Who knows? They could be halfway off a ledge right now," Blue said doubtfully.

"Don't think that way!" Red said in a hurt tone. "Be positive, we've been through a lot and we're okay right now. We're more fortunate than you think."

"I'm back," Shadow Darius grumbled.

"I can see that," Blue said glaring at him.

"Master Bellum asked me if there's anyone I wanted to summon out of the Dark Mirror."

"Oh snap... Well who did you choose?"

"No one. Who else do we need? We got Shadow here locked up, we've got regular me locked up, Shadow Ryan is around, and Shadow Zelda is here."

"Shadow Zelda?" Green gasped.

"Of course. Even the sweetest and naive princess still has a shadow."

"Normal dark forces can't hurt Zelda, don't worry Green," Vio pointed out. "She's got some kinda light shield."

"Normal? We're everything but normal."

--

Zelda had ridden so far, she was kinda lost. She was now riding into a small village. Hardly anyone was outside, it was already dark.

"I guess I better check into a local inn..." she decided.

As Zelda was riding along, she came across another young girl carrying a bucket of water. The girl had short wavy pretty blonde hair and big blue eyes.

"Excuse me, do you need a place to stay?" the girl asked Zelda.

"Yes, do you know where I could find one?"

"Just come with me. My name is Elne."

"Okay."

Elne led Zelda back to the inn and helped her dismount.

"Thanks, do you know where I could keep Levika?" she asked Elne.

"Yeah, there's a stable in the back. Has anyone ever told you that you look exactly like Princess Zelda?"

"That would be because I am Princess Zelda."

"Really? What are you doing out here?"

"Long story... I'd like to rest a little first."

"Oh yes, sorry..."

After Zelda got settled, she and Elne talked at the bar.

"Green and the others were captured?" Elne seemed shocked.

"Yes, do you know him?"

"He was here before, the Links saved the town from these horrible monsters."

"I didn't know that."

"So now they're captured, the castle is probably in shambles, and you were almost killed by your shadow self?"

"That's pretty much it."

"So what are you doing now?"

"Just running away from them and staying safe. What could I do?"

"If you want, you can stay here. I have some extra clothes that you could wear."

"I guess I could stay here, until something goes wrong."

"Ok. The clothes should kinda hide who you really are, no one would suspect Princess Zelda would be around here."

"Thanks, I really appreciate it," Zelda smiled.

"Do you need anything else? It's getting pretty late, I think I'll go to sleep soon."

"No, you can leave. It's best if I get rest too."

"See you tomorrow, I'll bring you the clothes."

* * *

_**Again, it's the plot. Nothing great, but it has to be there for the story to make sense. **_


End file.
